15 Billion Dollar Plan for Hydrogen Power Generation - 11/15/06

The world will continue to use fossil fuels for power generation for foreseeable future.  New technology is being developed to generate electricity in a cleaner way by using hydrogen from fossil fuels.  Hydrogen is used as a fuel gas to generate electricity from turbines.  The carbon dioxide produced can be captured and stored permanently in oil and gas fields.

Currently power generation using fossil fuels accounts for 40% of the manmade CO2 emissions.   When generating power using hydrogen combined with carbon capture and storage 90% of the CO2 is captured so it does not enter the atmosphere. 

BP and GE partnered to combine their skills and resources to use this technology to really make a difference in our environment.  BP and GE plan to demonstrate their leading edge technologies can make hydrogen production efficient on a large scale. 

BP has announced they will build two hydrogen power projects with carbon capture and sequestration using GE technology.  Both companies hope to develop 10 to 15 further projects over the next 10 years. The first plant will be a 475MW hydrogen fired power plant located in Scotland.  The second plant will be a 500MW plant located in California.

The companies will use their experience using coal gasification, reforming technology, gas turbines and carbon capture and storage.  Coal gasification provides a great opportunity for countries with large reserves of coal which include the U.S., China, and India.   Using low cost coal to produce hydrogen to generate electricity with low CO2 emissions will be a breakthrough in hydrogen power production.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says the plant is perfect for their state falling in line with their growth plan and commitment to air quality.  The California Public Utilities Commission electricity procurement policies will encourage this first of it kind power plant.

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